System and Method for Supporting Multi-Path And/Or Multi-Mode Nvme Over Fabrics Devices

1. A fabric-attached device comprising: a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) module transporting PCie signals to a switch of a switch board; and a connector configured carry PCie signals, wherein the fabric-attached device provides device-specific information and sensor information of the fabric-attached device to a controller of the switch board by sending the device-specific information and the sensor information to the controller, and wherein the device-specification information includes health status information.

2. The fabric-attached device of claim 1 , wherein the device-specification information further includes field-replaceable unit (FRU) information.

3. The fabric-attached device of claim 1 further comprising a U.2 connector connecting the fabric-attached device to the switch board.

4. The fabric-attached device of claim 3 further comprising a network engine transporting network signals to the switch board over Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) pins of the U.2 connector.

5. The fabric-attached device of claim 4 , wherein the network signals provide discovery services or download services for a new firmware of the fabric-attached device.

6. The fabric-attached device of claim 4 , wherein the switch includes an Ethernet port that uses one or more of the SAS pins of the U.2 connector.

7. The fabric-attached device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is a baseboard management controller (BMC).

8. The fabric-attached device of claim 7 , wherein the fabric-attached device provides the device-specific information and the sensor information of the fabric-attached device to the BMC over a midplane via a PCIe lane.

9. The fabric-attached device of claim 1 , wherein the fabric-attached device changes a mode of operation based on a protocol established with a system over a fabric connection.

10. The fabric-attached device of claim 9 , wherein the fabric-attached device operates in a high availability (HA) mode or a non-HA mode according to the protocol.

11. A system comprising: a switch board including a switch and a controller; and a fabric-attached device comprising: a peripheral component interconnect express (PCie) module transporting PCie signals to the switch; and a connector configured carry PCie signals, wherein the fabric-attached device provides device-specific information and sensor information of the fabric-attached device to the controller of the switch board by sending the device-specific information and the sensor information to the controller, and wherein the device-specification information includes health status information.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the device-specification information further includes field-replaceable unit (FRU) information.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the fabric-attached device further comprises a U.2 connector connecting the fabric-attached device to the switch board.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the fabric-attached device further comprises a network engine transporting network signals to the switch board over Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) pins of the U.2 connector.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the network signals provide discovery services or download services for a new firmware of the fabric-attached device.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the switch includes an Ethernet port that uses one or more of the SAS pins of the U.2 connector.

17. The system of claim 11 , wherein the controller of the switch is a baseboard management controller (BMC).

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the fabric-attached device provides the device-specific information and the sensor information of the fabric-attached device to the BMC over a midplane of the system via a PCIe lane.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the fabric-attached device changes a mode of operation based on a protocol established with the system over a fabric connection.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the fabric-attached device operates in a high availability (HA) mode or a non-HA mode according to the protocol.